What is (Out)Laws & Justice?
(Out)Laws & Justice is a secondary school interdisciplinary curriculum of history/social studies, language arts and educational drama. Students critically reflect on westward expansion and the roots of violence. They explore the influences of Wild West myths on contemporary culture, public policies and their individual lives. Each project culminates in student–written plays presented to the student body at participating school campuses, and to parents and the community in public venues.

What are the goals of (Out)Laws & Justice?
To foster a civil and just society by:

Improving students’ literacy and critical thinking

Nurturing students’ deepened interest in academic study

Teaching alternatives to violent behavior by equipping students with the tools to analyze sources, to recognize the consequences of violent conflict, and to learn and practice the skills of conflict resolution.

What is project-based learning?
Project-based learning is the instructional strategy of empowering learners to pursue content knowledge on their own and demonstrate their new understandings through a variety of presentation modes. It has the following characteristics:

Leads students to investigate important ideas and questions

Is framed around an inquiry process

Is differentiated according to students needs and interests

Is driven by student independent presentation rather than teacher delivery of information

Requires the use of creative thinking, critical thinking, and information skills to investigate, draw conclusions about and, and create content

Why is the project in secondary schools?
According to the Center for Disease Control’s research on adolescent development, the choices teenagers make when their brains are making significant developmental changes can potentially have a permanent impact on their brains and their lives. It is for these reasons that the secondary school curriculum of (Out)Laws & Justice was developed: to engage eighth-graders in stories of the American hero-outlaw tales, and to guide students to channel their neurological preference for risk and novelty into a cognitive and effective study of the frontier myths that shaped the life, thought, and politics of this nation. Through these approaches that awaken the imagination, students strengthen their ability to make meaning of our complex moral world.

Why teach the history of the American West?
The conquest of Western America – its myths and realities – continues to shape the life and politics of this nation. Leading academics identify the study of history, in relation to current realities, as a powerful tool in promoting empathy and understanding for the “other,” and thus as a means for changing attitudes and behavior to the benefit of the individual students and community.

Children, like adults, have absorbed the archetype of the Western myths and their assumptions of violence. Popular concepts of the West are found in everyday speech as well as in cultural icons like the characters in the movies “Toy Story” and “Shane.” Western imagery and terminology are commonly used to describe, perhaps even justify, aggression and violent responses to challenge. For example, the bravado of “the walkdown” dramatized in the movie, “High Noon.”

By exploring the history of the American West, students learn to better identify patterns of violence and aggression, and how their own lives are in part shaped by the mythic violent themes of our American heritage and popular culture.

Why integrate educational drama into the core curriculum?
Recent neurological research about the adolescent brain has shown the positive effect of dramatic arts on learning. When a situation feels real, the same neurotransmitters are released in the brain as are released in real situations. Emotion drives attention. Attention drives learning. Drama in the classroom places students in an emotionally charged learning environment where they do the thinking, talking, decision-making and problem solving. Students who have experienced the drama process discover multiple perspectives that involve them in making informed decisions and understanding the consequences of their actions. The resident theater artist works closely with the classroom teacher to align theater activities with the teacher’s lesson plan. In the process, classroom teachers learn drama strategies that they can apply across subject areas.

The dramatic strategies taught by (Out)Laws & Justice are inspired by the work of Dorothy Heathcote, an esteemed pioneer in the field of Educational Drama. The Heathcote strategy is known as “Mantle of the Expert.” Similar strategies are referred to as contextual drama or process drama. Through this work students come to understand how multiple meanings shape their own identities. Students draw on their background knowledge and experiences in composing, decoding, visualizing, revising, and negotiating social relationships.

What teaching methods does (Out)Laws & Justice encourage?
(Out)Laws & Justice encourages individual and small group learning that is both experiential and intellectual. Students engage in drama, discussions, and in writing and developing their own written work. They share their personal experiences with authority, law and order, and their own understandings of violent confrontation. These experiences are compared and contrasted with historic conflicts documented in the (Out)Laws & Justice student work/textbook.

This approach complements the proven pedagogy of educational drama to strengthen memorable learning and empathy-building processes. During a critical phase of adolescent development, these combined methods provide students with a unique environment for exploring alternatives to violence. In the field of violence reduction, the Centers for Disease Control identifies this kind of learning as a “best practice.”

What is a Theater Teaching Artist?
(Out)Laws & Justice is very proud of its diverse and talented Teaching Artists! Theatre Teaching Artists create spaces where teachers and students can envision a new, different, and exciting way of learning and doing that underserved, inner-city youth can apply to seeing themselves as capable people who can work together to bring about justice in their personal lives and society. All of our teachers are highly trained theatre professionals who have ties in multiple artistic communities. They perform, direct, create and teach because of their passion for theatre and their deeply rooted commitment to working with children. With emphasis on linking personal artistry with pedagogical artistry they bring their expertise and love of the arts to our students.

Is the curriculum specific only to California and New York?
No. The historical events covered in the (Out)Laws & Justice textbook took place across the West, mainly in the region west of the Mississippi River, but also in the states that were torn apart as a result of the Civil War.

What professional development is offered by (Out)Laws & Justice?
(Out)Laws & Justice leads a five-day institute (66 training hours) for classroom teachers and teaching artists with follow-up training days and coaching throughout the year. The Institute encourages teaching for conceptual understanding, and conforms to the sub-fields of multiple intelligence theory and whole brain learning— theories gaining acceptance internationally for all age levels.

“Unlike most professional development trainings, where we are given a notebook, that will later collect dust on a shelf next to other notebooks from previous PDs, the lasting impact of the (Out)Laws & Justice training, and the on-going support is that I purposefully integrate process drama into my daily lesson plans.”

Help students’ gain experiential understanding of core American values that drove westward expansion and the effects of its legacy on their lives today. Across multiple domains and contexts, the OLJ curriculum creates informed citizens who are thoughtful and capable individuals.

Broaden awareness that the process of creating and performing is compatible with traditional theatre training in which, often, the performance itself is the primary goal.

Teach strategies that will engage students who are reluctant to perform. Learners claim ownership of their learning.

Sample Day 1:

Introduce (Out)Laws & Justice goals and history, rationale for methodology and content.
Discuss impact of the West on individuals and American society today.

Introduction to neurobiology and brain development research on emotion and memory related to drama praxis.

Teach how drama draws students into the historical context, links to their own lives, and then prepares them to write and perform for audiences.

Do classroom teachers need theater training to implement the program?
No, classroom teachers do not need theater training to implement the program. In our experience, teachers are able to apply the knowledge gained from theater artists in both their (Out)Laws & Justice and other classes.

“Before OLJ, my experience with drama mostly consisted of reading a few plays in class, reader’s theatre, attending school assemblies, and the occasional evening out to see a live performance. Not having had any experience in drama, I really didn’t know what was missing from the classroom experience. Enter OLJ and the teaching artists.”

Do classroom teachers need theater training to implement the program?
No, classroom teachers do not need theater training to implement the program. In our experience, teachers are able to apply the knowledge gained from theater artists in both their (Out)Laws & Justice and other classes.

How are the classes structured?
Eighth-grade history and English teachers team-teach in order to strand the program across the curriculum. (Out)Laws & Justice is taught in an elective period linked to their history and language arts classes. Classes are scheduled back-to-back, providing a three-hour block of uninterrupted study for 36 weeks. Theatre teaching artists work once weekly in two hour sessions throughout the 36 weeks.

As the classes are divided into small groups, these groups begin to collaborate, inspire and learn from one another. They then each present their research findings and their ideas to the other groups in the class. In this way, their engagement becomes authentic, and energized in ways that go beyond what their teachers might have imagined possible. Student essays, photographs and, ultimately, their plays, document and make their learning visible.

The (Out)Laws & Justice textbook and the accompanying teacher’s guide-— written by David Vigilante, Associate Director, National Center for History in the Schools at UCLA and reviewed by Gary B. Nash, associate director and director respectively of the National Center for History in the Schools, UCLA. Dr. Nash, an original member of the OLJ Advisory Board, has influenced the teaching of history more than any other figure of this generation. He led the design of the 1986 California History/Social Science Framework, the 1994 National History Standards, and the subsequent 1996 revised edition.

What makes (Out)Laws & Justice an effective program?
Everyone understands the meaning of “Wanted: Dead or Alive,” and the imperative to “stand one’s ground” is as recognizable today as it was on the 19th century frontier. Our objective is to decode these ideas that resonate so timelessly with youth by encouraging mindful, critical thinkers and empowering students to understand, re-create and peacefully explore alternatives to violence.

The powerful combination of teaching educational drama and traditional theatre arts skills as a means to unpack the often invisible but dominant myths of the West, enables students to confront and compare the contested grounds of the frontier with the contested urban grounds where they live today. The stories of 19th-century westward expansion become meaningful and relevant as students fully engage in the issues of the time. These insights bring an understanding of the source of American beliefs about justice, honor, rugged individualism and no duty to retreat. Students can then assess how these values do and do not work for the individual and common good.